This invention relates generally to creating frosted sculptures or other useful objects. More particularly, it concerns forming into an armature having a desired shape a conduit through which is circulated a freezing agent, wherein the sensible heat and the latent heat of fusion of water vapor within the ambient air is removed so that the outer surface of the conduit is maintained below the freezing point of water, thereby to produce a blanket of frost on the outer surface of the armature, with the result being a fleshed-out, frosted sculpture.
Prior art "ice" decorations form a layer of ice on the outer surface of a transparent plastic "ice body" by condensing water droplets thereon to create an imitation ice ornament. Such an ornament is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,328,974, entitled "Imitation Ice Ornament", issued July 4, 1967. Of course, such a decoration is neither a sculpture nor a frosted art object, because it depends for its shape on the formation of a plastic or other resinous casting, and because it simply condenses water vapor from the ambient air to produce water droplets on the outer surface thereof.
Other prior art, so-called "ice" sculptures depend upon the circulation of a refrigerating fluid through a helically formed evaporator coil disposed in substantial surface contact with an outer, ice-forming sleeve member, with the integrally proximate refrigerating means condensing the water vapor from the ambient air around the sculpture to form water, which in turn is frozen to form a layer of ice on the outer sleeve. Such method and apparatus are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,351,157, entitled "Method and Apparatus for Forming Ice Sculptures or the Like", issued Sept. 28, 1982. Such method and apparatus impose a number of unrealistic and undesirable constraints, including the helically coiled forms that the sculpture must take, the outer sleeve member that must be in substantial surface contact with the helical coil and the required close physical proximity between the sculpture and the associated refrigerating means. Moreover, because they depend upon condensation of water by conventional refrigeration of a cooling fluid and then freezing of the water condensate, the few and limited iced sculptures that could be created thereby would have the appearance more of an icicle than of a frosted, free-form art object.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide method and apparatus for creating free-form frosted sculptures.
It is also an object of the invention to provide method and apparatus that produce visually and tactilely stimulating and aesthetically pleasing frosted art objects.
Another object of the invention is to provide such apparatus that can be created and maintained at room temperature.
Yet another important object is to provide such apparatus that is capable of relatively quiet operation.
It is another object to render such apparatus relatively maintenance free.
As used herein, "ice" will be understood to refer to a relatively dense, ordered, frozen-water structure that is generally transparent and has a smoothly textured outer surface. As used herein, "frost" will be understood to refer to a relatively light, irregular, frozen-water-and-entrapped-air, crystallized structure that is generally opaque and has a roughly textured outer surface. Finally, as used herein, "reverse sublimation" will be understood to refer to a process by which water is made to pass from a vapor phase to a solid phase substantially without passing through a liquid phase, i.e. a process whereby the liquid phase occurs, if at all, only fleetingly and/or in only a fractional volume of the water undergoing such a vapor-to-solid phase change.
The method of the invention may be performed by freely forming an armature from a length of hollow tubing into the general shape of a desired art object; substantially removing the sensible heat and the latent heat of fusion from water vapor surrounding the armature by circulating a freezing agent, e.g. ethyl glycol, brine, refrigerant, etc., through the hollow tubing; and metering the circulation of the freezing agent through the tubing to maintain the outer surface thereof at a temperature substantially below the freezing point of the water vapor, thereby to promote the growth of frost on the exposed surface of the armature. The apparatus of the invention may take the form of a free-form latticework including a length of freezing agent-containing tubing freely formed into a desirable shape having adjacent tubing segments defining therebetween gaps capable of being bridged by frost, thereby webbingly to interconnect such segments; and freezing means for promoting the growth of frost on the outer surface of the hollow tubing and within the gaps, the freezing means including heat-removing means capable of removing from water vapor surrounding the tubing sufficient heat to cause the water vapor to solidify in the form of frost.
These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become more readily apparent by reading the following description and by referring to the accompanying drawings.